I have seen kids passionate about sports come from families that are not.

People that have to ask these questions just don’t understand kids who are wired to love sports. Nothing more to it.


Nature nurture my friend. Somewhere along the line you are nurturing it as well. Are you telling us you hate all sports and you never watch them on TV and your kid asked to play travel and you said No because you decided to put family time in front of one of your child's needs? It's not just the kids, it is you too or your kid would be on a rec team or playing at recess.

People that have to ask these questions just don’t understand kids who are wired to love sports. Nothing more to it.

Because he likes it, and it's offered very cheaply at a time (after school) and a location (school) that's easy for me as a working parent. He does better with as much exercise as possible, so he plays every sport that's offered cheaply at his school.

Anonymous wrote:It keeps her off the pole.

Your DD too? #girlproblems

To tire him out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a good question, but no one will say the reason why about half of the kids (3/4ths of the girls) play -- "because me and the husband are super competitive and want to watch our little Suzy kick some other kid's arse."

I don't know any parents who push their kids into travel soccer. I have a competitive, sporty kid who loves it -- and thus I love it for her. Maybe I look like the people you describe, but I love watching her do something she loves. I'm pretty sure that's the case for everyone else. There's no way you could really do this if it wasn't kid lead.

+1 My son is a U13. If you are able to make your U13 kid train 4 days a week, plays game(s) on the weekend practically year round...your son is actually a big mindless pushover. My kid plays because he wants to. Sure I might be able to make him play rec to run around one day a week to burn energy by threatening to take away his phone, but there is no way I would be able to make him do what he does. Maybe this is a rec thing where half are pushed into it...and, if so, so what. They need exercise.

PP here. Exactly. There is no way a person could get their kid to work this hard if their kid really wants to be doing other things.

OP, I think you are trying to correlate loud, aggressive parents with parents who are forcing their kids to play. I don't think such a correlation really exists. I think parents find themselves emotionally involved in lots of areas of their kids lives and soccer is just one where you see it all on display. It doesn't mean that these kids aren't self-motivated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a good question, but no one will say the reason why about half of the kids (3/4ths of the girls) play -- "because me and the husband are super competitive and want to watch our little Suzy kick some other kid's arse."

I don't know any parents who push their kids into travel soccer. I have a competitive, sporty kid who loves it -- and thus I love it for her. Maybe I look like the people you describe, but I love watching her do something she loves. I'm pretty sure that's the case for everyone else. There's no way you could really do this if it wasn't kid lead.

+1 My son is a U13. If you are able to make your U13 kid train 4 days a week, plays game(s) on the weekend practically year round...your son is actually a big mindless pushover. My kid plays because he wants to. Sure I might be able to make him play rec to run around one day a week to burn energy by threatening to take away his phone, but there is no way I would be able to make him do what he does. Maybe this is a rec thing where half are pushed into it...and, if so, so what. They need exercise.

Because he loves it. That’s the only reason.

My kid loves to compete and be a part of a team

For my DC at 5 it was about trying a fun activity that had him running around. He joined a rec team and we liked the families and kids so he stuck with it for a while. Then he started getting pretty good so he moved to travel. He's also very competitive so soccer was a good outlet. Then he decided he wanted to play in high school (at a school where making the team is competitive). Played in high school for 4 years and had a great time. Stopped playing travel soccer junior year to focus on academics. Played intramural in college and plays in an adult league now. Absolutely no regrets about the time spent playing soccer.

My dd is a jock and will play any sport. In 2nd and 3rd she played with the boys because other girls at school would not play sports.

I still remember her first travel soccer practice and how much fun she had playing with the other girls. When ever the girls get together and a ball comes out they start playing and roughhousing.

Anonymous wrote:It keeps her off the pole.

hahahahahaha I think we could be friends.

Because he likes it and I want him to get the exercise. I also think it has been a good way for him to learn how to work with other kids he doesn't necessarily like (though he likes many of his teammates).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a good question, but no one will say the reason why about half of the kids (3/4ths of the girls) play -- "because me and the husband are super competitive and want to watch our little Suzy kick some other kid's arse."

I don't know any parents who push their kids into travel soccer. I have a competitive, sporty kid who loves it -- and thus I love it for her. Maybe I look like the people you describe, but I love watching her do something she loves. I'm pretty sure that's the case for everyone else. There's no way you could really do this if it wasn't kid lead.

What age is your DD?

U13